By the time Chen Ji left Prince Jing's Estate, it was already evening.
Xibing stood inside the estate gates and waved goodbye to him, while Chen Ji stood on Anxi Street, his heart heavy with worry.
He walked in the lingering glow of sunset, smelling the aromas of cooking drifting from the homes along the street. Only then did he feel himself relax.
Dark Cloud poked a head out from the eaves and leaped across the gap into his arms. "Who beat up White Prajna? I didn't do it!"
Chen Ji smiled and stroked Dark Cloud's head. "No one beat her up. It was just a reason for Consort Yun to summon me to the estate."
He murmured to himself, "Consort Yun said that Consort Jing's lead-barium glass cup was a gift from her family, so I didn't think any more of it. But looking at Consort Jing's relationship with the Liu Family now, someone might have done it on purpose... Has she cursed anyone in the Liu Family lately?"
"Yes, she cursed her older brother Liu Mingxian. Her language was filthy."
"That makes sense." Chen Ji sighed. "I was so focused on the logic of it all that I didn't think more deeply about human nature. Sure enough, you can't judge human nature by ordinary reasoning. But I wasn't the one who angered Old Master Liu to death, I didn't give her the cup, and I didn't kill Liu Shiyu. Why is she targeting me instead of taking revenge on the Liu Family and the Secret Intelligence Directorate... Wait, the Liu Family killed Liu Shiyu to silence him too. There's a ruthless one in that family!"
Chen Ji drew a sharp breath. Looking back over all the clues, he suddenly realized that the Liu Family acted with exceptional ruthlessness, showing no regard for family ties even toward their own. "Old Master Liu in that coffin-surely they didn't just kill him too?!"
Dark Cloud was awestruck. "Fierce! Really fierce!"
Was that kind of ruthlessness useful? Of course it was. If they hadn't been so ruthless, Cloud Goat and Bright Rabbit wouldn't have been thrown into prison. Instead, the Liu Family would have been guilty of deceiving the sovereign.
Back at the medical hall, Old Yao stood behind the counter, poring over the account books while working an abacus. He looked rather like a shrewd old schemer who couldn't make the numbers add up...
Chen Ji smiled and teased him. "Master, couldn't you just cast some copper coins to work out the accounts?"
Old Yao glared at him. "Enough of that bullshit. Your skin must be itching for a beating. Divination can only point you in a direction. How could it tell you the exact amounts down to the last coin?"
"Where are my senior brothers?" Chen Ji asked curiously.
"They went to the back courtyard to cook." Old Yao shot him a sidelong glance. "Didn't you go treat a cat? Didn't you prescribe it any medicine?"
"No..."
Old Yao sneered. "And here I thought you were so careful. Even if it wasn't hurt or sick, you should have prescribed some cheap wound medicine and taken it to the estate. If you're going to put on an act, you have to see it through, or sooner or later someone will find out."
Chen Ji paused. "Thank you for the reminder, Master. Old ginger is still the spiciest. I'll take some Cnidium seeds over tomorrow."
He went to the back courtyard. Liu Quxing was alone in the kitchen, washing rice and cooking porridge. She Dengke was nowhere to be seen.
Just as Chen Ji was about to head to the apprentices' dormitory, he saw She Dengke push the door open and come out.
She Dengke jumped when he saw Chen Ji. "Oh, didn't you go to the estate?"
Chen Ji said, "The white cat wasn't badly hurt, so I came back after taking a look. Senior Brother She, what were you doing in the room just now?"
"I was just changing clothes. Come on, help pick the vegetables. If dinner's late, Master will scold us again." She Dengke pulled Chen Ji toward the kitchen.
But just then, the sound of synchronized footsteps came from outside the medical hall, accompanied by the clatter of iron armor scales striking together as guards walked.
Chen Ji noticed that She Dengke's hand suddenly tightened around his arm. He could feel the sweat on his palm even through his clothes.
Old Yao walked to the entrance and frowned. "Miss Chunhua, General Wang, why are you blocking the doors of my Taiping Medical Hall?"
Chen Ji pulled free of She Dengke's grip and went outside. Liu Quxing also emerged from the kitchen, ladle in hand. "What's happening? What's happening?"
Outside Taiping Medical Hall, Chunhua was dressed with unusual simplicity today. She wore only a light green jacket and skirt, with not a single piece of jewelry, and her hair was held up with a wooden hairpin.
Chunhua looked uneasy, as though she wanted to speak but hesitated. Beside her, the estate guards all carried long halberds and wore heavy iron armor. Their leader strode like a tiger and surveyed his surroundings like an eagle, his gaze sharp.
Chen Ji smiled and asked, "Miss Chunhua, what's all this about?"
Chunhua said to the captain of the estate guards, "General Wang, a few days ago, my lady lost the South Sea pearl His Highness gave her. We first investigated the maids in Evening Star Court, but found no trace of it. Then we thought it over, and this medical hall apprentice named Chen Ji was the only other person who had been in and out of Evening Star Court. He even rummaged through my lady's belongings!"
Chen Ji frowned. Consort Jing!
After losing her son and nephew, Consort Jing had come for revenge swiftly and urgently, without even waiting a day!
General Wang watched Chen Ji coldly. "What do you have to say? Can you prove your innocence?"
Chen Ji was silent for a moment, then said calmly, "When someone falsely accuses you of stealing, it's hard to prove your innocence."
Along Anxi Street, shopkeepers and their assistants craned from their doorways to watch. They had all been about to close up, but unexpectedly found themselves watching a juicy scandal.
Someone whispered, "Little Doctor Chen from Taiping Medical Hall stole something from the prince's estate?"
"I hear it was the South Sea pearl Prince Jing gave his consort. I've heard of those things. A pearl can be as big as a longan, and a single one can sell for hundreds of taels of silver!"
Chen Ji listened to the discussions around him without any change in expression.
General Wang stared at him for a long time before finally saying darkly, "Seize this apprentice. Go in and search!"
With that, two guards seized Chen Ji's arms, one on either side. Their arms clamped around his like iron bands, holding him so tightly he couldn't move and squeezing him painfully.
Chunhua followed the guards into the medical hall. "General Wang, I'll help look. I've seen the pearl, so I can identify it."
Chen Ji watched her enter the medical hall and pull open the medicine cabinet drawers one by one, leaving the medicinal ingredients in disarray.
Old Yao watched coldly. "General Wang, if a thief has indeed come out of my Taiping Medical Hall, I will resign my post and return to my hometown, never to set foot in Luo City again. But if there is no thief in my Taiping Medical Hall, what will you have to say?"
General Wang cupped his hands to him from a distance. "Imperial Physician Yao, I too am acting under orders. Miss Chunhua brought Consort Jing's waist token, and I must obey the order to catch the thief. Besides, you can't see into another person's heart. How do you know your apprentice isn't a thief?"
Old Yao suddenly snorted in anger. "I know for certain he isn't!"
Chen Ji looked at Old Yao in surprise. He hadn't expected him to speak up for him at a time like this.
As they spoke, Chunhua had already entered the back courtyard. She first searched the kitchen, then went straight into the apprentices' dormitory.
She rummaged through the beds before finally turning her attention to the apprentices' wardrobe.
Chen Ji understood that her earlier searches had all been for show. This was her real target.
Chunhua had known from the beginning that the pearl was here!
Chen Ji looked at She Dengke and saw that his tall, sturdy figure was tense with anxiety. His hands were wrung together, and there wasn't a trace of color in his lips.
When She Dengke saw Chen Ji looking at him, he hurriedly looked away, not daring to meet his eyes.
She Dengke and Chunhua had plotted together to frame him!
Chen Ji frowned. But She Dengke clearly hadn't left the medical hall, and Chunhua hadn't come there today either. How had they passed along information and the pearl?
Chen Ji surveyed his surroundings. The medical hall's back courtyard was separated from the prince's estate by only a wall. Anyone speaking on the other side could be heard in the courtyard.
The courtyard wall wasn't high, and throwing a pearl over it would hardly be difficult.
Chen Ji suddenly asked, "Senior Brother She, do you like Chunhua?"
She Dengke froze, then instinctively stepped back. "Huh? What are you talking about? I don't understand what you mean."
Chen Ji shook his head. "It's nothing..."
Liu Quxing looked at Chen Ji worriedly. "You didn't really steal something, did you?"
Chen Ji denied it. "No. I'd never do that kind of petty stealing in my life."
Liu Quxing believed him when he said so, but he could plainly see that Chunhua had everything under control and was absolutely certain.
He looked at his master. "Master, hurry and say something."
But Old Yao remained silent. If they really found evidence of the crime, no one could help Chen Ji.
At that moment, the guards came out of Old Yao's main room and shook their heads at General Wang.
Everyone turned to look at Chunhua in the apprentices' dormitory. She searched the wardrobe like a madwoman, then finally stood motionless before it in a daze. With her back to everyone, she began to tremble and burst into tears.